And willard e



(No Model.)

J P. MATTHEWS & W. E. DINSMORE". THILL COUPLING.

No. 497,924; Patented May 23, 1893'.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES F. MATTHEWS, OF LIDGERWVOOD, NORTH DAKOTA, AND WILLARD E.

DINSMORE, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA. I

THILVL-COUPLING.

SPEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 497,924, dated May 23,1893.

Application filed May 24, 1892.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JAMES F. MATTHEWs, of Lidgerwood, county ofRichland, and State of North Dakota, and WILLARD E. DINs- MORE, ofMinneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Thin-Couplings; and wedo hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable oth ers skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to an improvement in thill couplings,--the objectbeing to reduce friction and prevent rattling, and also to provide meansfor the ready attachment and detachment of the thills or tongue.

With these objects in view the invention consists in certain novelfeatures of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts ashereinafter set forth and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a view in side elevationillustrating our invention. Fig. 2 is a detail view of the spring.

A represents a portion of an axle, to which clips B are secured. Theclip 13 is provided with two ears on which project outwardly from theaxle and somewhat longer than said ears are usually made, so that alarger catch or hook may be used, said ears being provided near theirfree ends with perforations for the reception of a bolt 0. One end ofsaid bolt is provided with a head and the other end is screwthreaded forthe reception of a nut. If desired this bolt may be made integral withthe clip. The rear end of the thill iron is provided with a hook orcatch 0 adapted to engage the bolt 0 as shown in Fig. 1.

The hook or catch 0 is so made that when the forward ends of the shaftsor pole are on the ground, said hook or catch will be just long enoughto drop in behind the bolt, and that when the catch or book is inposition, the free end will lie parallel with the shaft or pole. Theflat surface 6 at the forward end of the clip is preferably made thickand preferably built up about one-half inch higher than the ordinaryclip. Inserted in the space between the hook or catch a and the flatface $erial No. 434,195. (No model.)

e of the clip is our improved spring D. This spring is made of a pieceof fiat spring metal having a fiat straight portion f adapted to bearagainst the flat face a of the clip. At the top of the portion f thespring is preferably bent in the form of a loop 2, one side of said loopbeing made straight as at g. In forming the loop 2, the metal of thespring is so bent as to cause the said loop to project over the clip andthus be out of the way of the shafts or pole when they are raised. Fromthe straight portion 9 of the loop 2 the spring D is provided with acurved, thickened, portion or arm h, in which an opening h is made, saidcurved arm or portion being adapted to conform to the shape of thecurved portion of the catch or hook 0. Located in the opening it of thearm or portion h is a series of pins k which pass through perforationsin opposite walls of said opening. Mounted to revolve on these pins is aseries of rollers 71?. The peripheries of the rollers project slightlybeyond the inner curved portion of the arm or portion and are adapted tobear against and roll on the end of the catch or hook c. From thisconstruction and arrangement of parts it will be seen that the rollers77/3 are set concentric with the inner end of the hook or catch a of thethill iron, so that the bearing is the same on each roller. The tiltingor vibration of the shaft or pole causes the rollers to turn, thuspreventing all grating and rattling of the shafts or pole. We do notwish to limit ourselves to the par ticular shape of the springdescribed, as various shapes may be employed without departing from thespirit of our invention,nor do we wish to restrict ourselves to rollers,as balls may be employed in their stead.

It will be seen that after the hook or catch of the thill irons is inengagement with the bolt 0, the spring may be readily inserted betweensaid hook and the clip. Itwill also be seen that when the spring is inplace it is impossible for the thill iron to escape from its connectionwith the bolt, and that when it is desired to remove said thill iron,this can be readily and easily accomplished by the removal of thespring.

The device is very simple in construction,

cheap to manufacture, easy of application and efiectual in theperformance of its functions. 7

Having fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desireto secure by Let ters Patent, is

1. A spring for a thill coupling having antifrict-ion bearings adaptedto bear on the thill iron, substantially as set forth.

2. A spring for a thill coupling having a curved arm or portion toconform in shape to the end of the thill iron, and antifriction bearingsin said curved portion, substantially as set forth. 3

3. A spring for a thill coupling having a curved portion made with anopening and adapted to conform in shape to the end of the chill iron,and rollers mounted in said opening and adapted to bear on the end ofthe thill iron, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination with a spring for thill couplings having a curved armwith an opening therein, of pins extending across said Y opening androllers mounted on said pins and having their peripheries projectingbeyond I said arm, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination with a clip having a thickened side, extended earsprojecting from said thickened side of the clip, a bolt between saidears, a hook or catch adapted to engage said bolt, of a spring having astraight portion to bear against the thickened portion of the clip and acurved portion carrying antifriction hearings to bear against the hookor catch, substantially as set forth.

6. In a thill coupling, a spring adapted to be inserted in the spacebetween the vehicle clip and tongue or shafts, said spring havingantifriction bearings in position to engage the tongue or shafts,substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof We have signed this specification in the presenceof subscribing witnesses.

JAMES F. MATTHEYVS. WILLARD E. DINSMORE.

Witnesses for J. F. Matthews:

F. HELEIG, J. H. MovIUs. Witnesses for W. E. Dinsmore:

O. J. Rooxwoon, ETTA MCCALL.

